Houston Museum of Natural Science

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About Christine

Christine manages the live animal collection, teaches weekday dissection labs and summer camp classes, and presents Wildlife on Wheels programs. It has been said that she is "usually carrying something interesting."

In a previous blog of a similar name, I posted some animal photo puzzles along with a clue as a challenge for you. Once again, with no photography skill and some very silly clues, here are some new puzzles with one additional hint. All of these animals can be found in Texas…

“How do you count scorpions?” Well, carefully is the best answer. The same can be said for any animals with either pinchers, claws, or really sharp teeth. That pretty much covers the majority of our animal collection here (except for the amphibians).

The next question that pops to mind is: why would you count scorpions? Like many institutions that maintain animal collections, an inventory is essential and often required by law. Check out this article from the Seattle Times on the London Zoo, when they were taking inventory of their collection.

While our collection is much smaller, we still have to keep proper notes and update our inventory list. It just seems a bit tedious when you are trying to count roaches. Prolific, fast-moving roaches. See how many you count in the picture below and then imagine what happens when you scare them.

Aerial shots of our Roach Dome – a simulated
home environment exhibit in the Butterfly Center,
where we house numerous cockroaches for display.

No really – the skeleton of a sea urchin is called a test. Sea urchins are one kind of Echinoderm. And “echinoderm” is not some new spa skin treatment; it means “spiny skin” and refers to the phylum name for sea stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers and all of their salt-water buddies.

At HMNS, we maintain a few living sea urchins in addition to the ones we have preserved for class use. If you haven’t been to the Museum lately (or maybe you have, but didn’t notice the tank), there is a salt water tank in the Grand Hall that houses the sea urchins, lightning whelks and horseshoe crabs we use in our Outreach program, Wildlife on Wheels. The sea urchins we currently have are of two kinds: Variegated or Short-spined Urchins (Lytechinus variegatus) and Pencil Urchins (Eucidaris tribuloides). While they are related, they are very different in appearance. The Short-spined looks more like a pin cushion and the Pencil Urchin looks more like pretzel sticks stuck to a ping-pong ball.

Their different appearances give us clues to their behavior and lifestyles. You will often see our Short-spined Urchin clinging to the side of the tank with shells and bits of rubble stuck to it. These urchins are more active during the daytime, and the most favored theory is that they use the small pieces of shell or rock as sun protection (like a hat to prevent excessive UV exposure.) Their spines are rather sharp and a great defense. Not that there are predators in the tank, but the horseshoe crabs have been known to roll the urchins around, sort of exploring the other occupants of the tank. We keep telling them the urchins are not toys, but they haven’t really caught on yet.

The Pencil Urchins move very little, so if you visit the tank on your way in and stop by on your way out, they are likely to be in the same place. They often go unnoticed in the tank. These urchins have very blunt spines (hence the “pencil,” though I’d like to see one named the Pretzel Urchin). More active at night, they spend their days holed up in rocks to avoid predators. Once they wedge themselves in, it is very difficult to remove them; far easier to move the rocks in our case.

If you want to learn more about sea urchins and their fellow echinoderms, check out your local aquarium or library!

I love nature magazines. In fact, it would be accurate to say that I am addicted to nature magazines, even ones for the kiddies (their pictures are just too cute!) I enjoy those photo contests that seem to appear in them periodically. You know, where there is a close up of an animal or a plant and you are supposed to guess what it is. Well, I arrived at a Wildlife on Wheels program early and had my camera with me so I got a little shutter happy. If you haven’t tried those photo puzzles before, here is your chance. These are some of the photos I took along with a clue; see if you can guess which animal it is. Please be kind, I am not a photographer, just a novice with some time on my hands.